Judge bars certification of Virginia redistricting results; state AG promises appeal

By Fredreka Schouten, CNN

(CNN) — A congressional map approved by Virginia voters that aims to help Democrats net four US House seats in November’s midterms faces another legal hurdle just one day after its passage.

A judge in rural southern Virginia on Wednesday ordered that the results of Tuesday’s vote not be certified on several grounds, including that state lawmakers did not follow their own rules in passing the redistricting referendum. Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley also called the ballot language put to voters “flagrantly misleading.”

Hurley barred state election officials from modifying election districts or proceeding with the new maps.

The fate of Virginia’s referendum was already before the state Supreme Court, which stayed a previous ruling by Hurley in the run-up to the referendum and allowed Tuesday’s vote to proceed before deciding the merits of that case. The case before the state Supreme Court is still pending.

State Attorney General Jay Jones said his office intends to immediately appeal Hurley’s Wednesday ruling.

Andrea Gaines, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Elections, said state officials are aware of the ruling and “are in the process of reviewing its impact on the State Board Certification” of Tuesday’s results.

Virginians for Fair Elections, which helped lead the campaign to back the referendum, said in a statement that voters “understood exactly what was on the ballot, and they chose YES.”

“Republicans lost,” the group said. “Now they’re trying to overturn the will of the voters in court and trying to relitigate an election they couldn’t win.”

Virginians narrowly approved the new map giving Democrats an advantage in 10 of the state’s 11 US House seats, a significant win for the party in a redistricting battle that has raged around the country since last summer.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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